Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
OCTOBER 7, 2015 | VOL. 26 | NO. 36 | CUTIMES.COM
1990 2015
CREDIT UNION TIMES
FOCUSREPORT:
CYBERSECURITY
With data breaches taking hold of more organizations
by the day, beefing up security is top-of-mind for many
credit unions. In this Focus Report, learn about two of
today’s biggest threats – account takeovers and coding
vulnerabilities – plus discover how to mitigate insider
cyberattacks. Y6
MBL Reform
Requiring a personal
guarantee is a
sound business
practice. Y13
Serving the
Underbanked
Cultivating relationships with
Hispanic members
is well worth the
effort. . Y12
Must Reads
TECHNOLOGY
Rewards Level Playing Field
Two thirds of Americans prefer
banking locally, according to the
Austin, Texas-based BancVue.
However, a perception still exists
that credit unions and community banks fall behind mega-banks
when it comes to delivering a
top-tier product experience .
BancVue, which began provid-
ing white label rewards checking
accounts about nine years ago,
set out to increase the capabili-
ties of smaller financial institutions
such as credit unions in order to
level the playing field. To do so,
executives at the company said
they asked themselves, “How do
we shift the perception?”
The answer was the creation of
a national brand, Kasasa, which
includes products such as free
checking, money management
platforms, rewards programs,
customized marketing tools and
web and mobile apps that small-
er institutions might not be able
to offer on their own. BancVue
also helps community insti-
tutions with their advertising
through its Kasasa platform.
Kasasa’s free checking and
savings accounts reward consumers for using their accounts
with high interest rates, cash
back and automatic savings deposits. All Kasasa products are
free, reward-based accounts
with no minimum balance to
earn rewards or maintain the account, no monthly service fee,
free online banking and free
ATMs nationwide.
“Kasasa ties them all Y17
ow that a Minnesota
judge has given class
action status to a law-
suit by five financial
institutions against Target over
its 2013 data breach, many in the
credit union industry are eagerly
looking forward to the proceed-
ings and new regulations they
could advance.
Clark Yelverton, who is presi-
dent/CEO of the
$288 million, Lake
Charles, La.-based
CSE Federal Credit
Union, was espe-
cially pleased with
the decision. His
credit union is one
of five financial institutions – and
the only credit union – that filed
suit in April after Target offered
$19 million to settle breach claims
with MasterCard issuers.
“As one of the many credit
unions that suffered substan-
tial losses as a result of Target’s
failure to adequately protect its
sensitive payment data, we were
frustrated, particularly as the
data breach took place during the
busiest shopping season of the
year,” Yelverton said after
Target Suit Fuels Regulatory Push
TINA OREM
torem@cutimes.com
Y18
LITIGATION
The Rundown
Y A suit against Target received class
action status Sept. 15.
Y Momentum is building behind
legislation regulating retailer data.
Y Plaintiff CSE FCU emphasized card
issuers shouldn’t bear breach costs.
Yelverton
Medallion
Loans on
Books at
122 CUs
DAVID MORRISON
dmorrison@cutimes.com
inancial data from the
NCUA show more credit
unions may suffer losses
as a result of the declining value of predominately New
York City-based taxi medallions
than previously thought.
While the agency said its data
appeared to indicate the situation
would not grow into a crisis, information from several other sources
pointed to a growing struggle for
credit unions involved with taxi
medallion lending.
As of June 30, 2015, four New
York credit unions – the $179 million, 2,900-member Montauk
Credit Union of New York City;
the $271 million, 3,000-mem-
ber LOMTO Federal Credit
Union in Woodside; the $2.1 billion, 24,000-member Melrose
Credit Union in Briarwood and
the $692 million, 3,800-mem-
ber Progressive Credit Union in
New York City – collectively sold
1,442 member business loans totaling more than $814.5 million,
according to the NCUA.
The NCUA’s records did not reveal how many of the loan participations were for taxi medallion
loans.
However, the agency said a substantial portion of Montauk
LENDING
Y16